When my brother and I decided to begin strength training, one of the first thing I did, after lifting some weight, was to start a logbook or training log.
In the beginning, I was using blanks of a one pager document I did with a text editor. These blanks were kept in a 3-ring binder. It worked well for a while. But I eventually drop them. Probably because this approach was too restrictive.
So, before long, I switched to regular notebook (I prefer coil 9-1/2″ x 6″). It allows me to log my training, and any comment I feel like, the way I best see fit.
Currently, given the cycle I’m in, the way I write my entries looks like this:
TBDL: 200 x 15r x 2
The above means “Trapbar Deadlift, 2 work sets of 15 reps with 200 lbs each”.
Or:
Dip: 160 x 12n, 10n
Again, the above means “Dips, 1 warm-up set of 12 negs (negative or eccentric motion), followed by 1 warm-up set of 10 negs with 160 lbs body weight”.
Of course, I also log the date and the day.
Keeping an accurate record is important for me. This is a very easy way to monitor what is going on. The goal being having some sort of progression.
Until next post, Lift Consciously 